Owner Robert Karnick Sr. was parked outside the building this morning, dodging questions and blaming gentrification as he helped at least one resident gain entry to remove belongings she had left inside.

Several tenants and neighbors say Karnick is to blame, suggesting he allowed them to live in filthy conditions, turned a blind eye to criminal activity and charged full rent this month knowing full well inspectors could shut him down any day.

"The city found a dog carcass, dead cats and rats in the basement," said Richard Etue, who lives in a neighboring building and says the apartment had become a hot spot for criminal activity. "Apparently, they found three inches of sewage."

Councilwoman Brenda Jones today defended the city's decision to shut down the apartment building, located at 2933 Second Avenue, noting that the EMS and Red Cross worked with evicted residents to find new housing and support.

"The building was uninhabitable," Jones said during a meeting of the public health and safety committee. "There were dead animals in there. Basically, it was not in a condition where people should be living."

Several residents, many of whom had been paying between $250 and $300 a month to live in small rooms with shared bathrooms, have resisted assistance with relocation, instead choosing to stay in the neighborhood they know and remain close to possessions they may have left in their apartments for lack of a better place to put them.

David, a military veteran who battles mental health issues, slept on a cement stairwell for several nights. Support groups offered to place him in a veterans center on the other side of the city, but he didn't want to lose his new job as a custodian at the Masonic Temple.

Pastor Pete Brazle and two other volunteers from the Heritage Church of Christ in Clawson are working with David to find a permanent living situation in the Cass Corridor that will allow him to keep his job.

They're also working with Beverly, an elderly woman who is staying with a friend on Gratiot and Benson. This morning, both women walked back to the apartment complex in an attempt to collect belongings. Beverly uses a walker, and the trip took them several hours.

"I'm just tired and I'm upset," Beverly said as she joined some of her former neighbors sitting on a curb in Cass Park. "He took my money and he forced me out."